More Topics

Weather Forecast

Column: How about a little cheese with that "whine"?

As many of you know I am a huge Green Bay Packer fan. I also detest people that are whiners. I'm sure you are wondering, how is he going to connect the two?

Back in the 90s the Packers seemed to regularly play the San Francisco 49'ers in the NFL playoffs and most of the time the Packers would come out on top.

But, one big thing that I can really remember about that rivalry is that the 49'ers and their fans always seemed to whine after their loss to the Packers. They would complain about the officiating or whatever, but they could never accept that a better team beat them.

With California being wine country and Wisconsin being cheese country we would always say to the 49'ers and their fans: Do you want some cheese with that whine?

That analogy brings me to my topic for today: People who whine.

The teachers union in the Milwaukee School District appears to me to be just a bunch of whiners.

With the Milwaukee School District, and many other school districts across the country facing financial meltdown, the teachers union there had the audacity to whine about the fact that male union members in the district can no longer have their Viagra paid for by the group health insurance plan.

The district there is facing the possibility of hundreds of teachers being laid off due to budget constraints, but the teachers want their Viagra.

That school district is proposing laying off 682 employees. The district gave layoff notices to 482 teachers.

The school district has been told that if teachers were able to have Viagra prescriptions paid for it could cost the district an additional $786,000 a year. That would be enough money to possible keep about a dozen first-year teachers employed.

It's so great when the teachers have their hearts in the right place isn't it?

How about a little cheese with that "whine" teachers?

Some people want to be able to continue to whine because it means they've made someone else look bad.

And speaking of other whiners, how about people who complain that the paper is missing stories in their communities, but can't offer any real proof?

I recently had someone, who I won't identify, call me to complain about stories that he said haven't been in our paper about his city, but should be.

Well, after he rattled off a few stories I later realized that at least two of them our reporter who has that beat is working on and has the other two or so on his short list of things he will write about next.

When I offered that official the opportunity to write a column on a regular basis for our paper about what is going on in his city, he declined.

I suspect that some people, even if you offer an intelligent answer to their question still want to be able to "whine."

How about some cheese with that "whine"?

Joe VanDeLaarschot is the editor of the East Otter Tail Focus and he can be reached by calling 218-346-5900 or by email at editor@eotfocus.com.